Suspect Nation

Since Tony Blairs New Labour government came to power in 1997, the UK civil liberties landscape has changed dramatically. ASBOs were introduced by Section 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and first used in 1999. The right to remain silent is no longer universal. Our right to privacy, free from interception of communications has been severely curtailed. The ability to travel without surveillance (or those details of our journeys being retained) has disappeared. Indeed, as Henry Porter (the Observer journalist famous for his recent email clash with Tony Blair over the paring down of civil liberties) reveals in this unsettling film, our movements are being watched, and recorded, more than ever before.

The writer Henry Porter has spend much of 2006 battling with Tony Blair on the issue of civil liberties through his weekly column in the Observer newspaper. In this programme, Henry embarks on a journey to look at the surveillance technologies being used in the UK and US today and what lies ahead. Henry also sees security expert Adam Laurie demonstrate how insecure many of these technologies are.